Government Policy
“LPG is half the price of petrol. It emits fewer greenhouse gasses and is therefore one of the most environmentally-friendly options currently available. It is a ‘win-win’ fuel. While helping the environment, motorists will also be saving considerable amounts of money, especially if they travel long distances. That is why I want fleet managers, car hire firms, taxi companies and individual motorists to explore the LPG option.” Energy Minister Brian Wilson, 7th January 2003The government is clear on its support of LPG, through both financial and non-monetary means.
Primarily, the government endorses the use of LPG through perceived rates of taxation, guaranteed through the ‘Alternative Fuels Framework’. The framework sets out:
- a 5 year guarantee, announced in the 2009 budget, that the current difference in tax between LPG and petrol (the ‘duty differential’) can decrease by only 1 penny per year until at least 2014
The government have commited that this duty differential would not decrease by more than 1p per litre per year. In reality, rather than seeing this decrease, we are seeing the differential increase in favour of LPG:
- Financial Year commencing 01/04/2009 –
- Petrol / diesel duty increase of 3.84p, when LPG duty only increased by 3.45p
- Financial Year commencing 01/04/2010 –
- Petrol / diesel duty increase of 2.76p as opposed to LPG duty only increasing by 2.69p
This means that the difference in duty of 42.43p, due to be reached in January 2011, will be the highest it has ever been. Essentially, the Alternative Fuels Framework means that the ‘half price’ nature of LPG is virtually guaranteed for the next 4 years.
As a domestically produced product, the government has and will continue to support the increased use of LPG. It should be noted that the Queen uses LPG fuelled cars.
